THIRTEEN

Day 3

East Perth Police Department

8.45 a.m. Tuesday, 27th October 1965

The three images were spread out on the desk before him. They were drawings of a figure either lying or standing akimbo. The figure’s arms were raised above its head holding what appeared to be a rifle, the narrow barrel in one hand and the stock in the other. In the two drawings taken from the tree, the legs of each figure were separated but the ankles and feet were covered as if by a concrete cast. The drawing the boys had placed under a stone was cruder and the figure’s feet were visible.

‘Hey, Cardilini, someone to see you,’ another detective called from his desk. Cardilini remembered hearing a knock and turned around to see Salt standing at the door.

‘What are you doing up here?’ Cardilini called.

‘I was told to report to you.’

‘That means you wait downstairs in the uniformed area until I want to see you.’

‘I do know that. I wasn’t going to come up but it was strongly suggested I should. I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be sorry, don’t do it. There are rules. You follow rules, don’t you?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Well, go.’

Salt turned and left.

‘Why are you busting his balls?’ a detective called, ‘It’s the high-ranking uniform mob who think we should mingle.’

‘Yeah, well. Life’s hard,’ Cardilini replied, as his attention was drawn back to the images. No facial features were even suggested, but it was the concealed ankles and feet that confused him. He stood from his desk and struck the pose in the images. He stood for some time until his arms tired.

Someone called, ‘Shit, Cardilini, maybe go and get a drink.’

‘Very funny,’ he said and sat.

He examined each piece of paper in detail. Two of them were torn from exercise books, one was a piece of A4 file paper with hole reinforcers. Also, the diagram from the ground had half a dozen practice signatures on its reverse side. It was either intentional or the boy wasn’t very bright. Cardilini determined that the name was Mossop.

He stood and marched upstairs to the top brass, tapped on Superintendent Robinson’s door and entered.

‘I didn’t ask to see you,’ Robinson said as Cardilini sat.

Cardilini dropped two sheets of paper on Robinson’s desk. Robinson pulled them towards him, annoyed. He studied the sketches then asked, ‘Where did these come from?’

Cardilini told the full story of his previous night’s excursion. Robinson didn’t say anything but stood and went to look out of the window behind his desk.

‘What does it mean?’ Cardilini asked.

‘You don’t know?’ Robinson asked as he turned.

‘No. I don’t get it. Is it some kind of freedom symbol?’

‘That’s what I thought,’ Robinson agreed then added, ‘Have you spoken about these to anyone else? Salt?’

‘No. I think there might have been another one yesterday when I was walking across the quadrangle but Deputy Principal Robson snapped it up.’